Optical systems typically comprise a plurality of components including laser sources, mirrors, diffraction gratings, beam splitters, and other optical components. The position and orientation of the optical components relative to each other generally require careful consideration in order to implement the desired functionality of the system. Since the wavelength of light emissions is relatively small (e.g., in the nanometer range), the position and orientation of the optical components generally require substantial precision.
In the past, optical systems included custom-made mounts for supporting individual optical components. These custom-made mounts only provided support for the optical components. Generally, the entire mount would have to be manually moved in order to properly position and orientate the optical component to achieve the desired functionality. Because the wavelength of light emissions is relatively small, proper positioning and orientation of optical components would typically be time-consuming, inaccurate, and not very repeatable.